Pathopharmacological Foundations for Advanced Nursing Practice Investigate Disease Process According to the American Heart Association, as many as 960,000 new cases of heart failure (HF) are diagnosed each year. Furthermore, it estimates there are approximately 6.5 million Americans over the age of twenty suffering from congestive heart failure (American Heart Association Rise Above Heart Failure, 2017). Additionally, the CDC reports half of the people diagnosed with HF will die within five years of diagnosis. HF costs the nation approximately 30.7 billion each year when accounting for the cost of health care services, medications, and missed work (Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Fact Sheet, 2016). Heart Failure occurs when the heart cannot...